How appropriate that the cover of this recording by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir shows a high-wire artist teetering along, arms outstretched. Tackling Bach's notoriously difficult motets can be an equally precarious experience that makes for some queasy listening in less surefooted performances. John Eliot Gardiner's wonderfully measured and subtle approach to these miniature masterpieces emphasises their dance-like joy and his virtuosic choir responds with glowing warmth and clarity. Their glorious reading of Komm, Jesu, Komm is alone worth the price of the disc.